Looking Good, Teaching Well Linking Liking, Looks, and Learning

1
Looking Good, Teaching Well? Linking Liking,
Looks, and Learning
Regan A. R. Gurung, Kristin M. Grudzielanek, and
Christina J. Tosh
Abstract
Results Discussion
Does the appearance of an instructor
influence student liking of the class and
learning? We tested this question with 948
undergraduate students. Regression analysis
showed that good looking, well dressed, likeable,
approachable teachers had students who learned
more and liked the class better.
Course Structure
Figure 1 Correational analyses showed that
learning was significantly related to
attractiveness, formal dress, approachability,
likeability, attendance, participation,
difficulty, and enjoyment. Figure 2 To predict
learning from the other key variables we
conducted a multiple regression analysis which
demonstrated that how much students learn is
contingent upon GPA (3 of variance), gender of
the instructor (2), liking of the professor
(50), difficulty of the class (1), and
students attendance (2). Figure 3 To predict
liking we conducted a second multiple regression
analysis which demonstrated that how much
students like their instructor is contingent upon
the instructors formal dress (1 of variance),
difficulty of the course (3), students
attendance (2), students participation (4),
instructor approachability (6), attractiveness
of the instructor (19), instructors age (3),
and students GPA and instructors sex (3).
Hypothesis
Learning
Student Preferences
Figure 2 Predicting Learning
Liking
Age 30-39 (50) and 40-49 (38) Gender no
significant difference Class size 0-25 (41) and
25-50 (42) Attractiveness mean 2.01 7 very
important Formal Dress mean 2.59 7 very
important Difficulty mean 4.21 7 very
hard 50 Lecture 23 Discussion 13
In-class group work 14 Demonstrations 15
Multimedia
Difficulty
Formal Dress
Attractiveness
Method
Introduction
Attractiveness is a powerful social tool,
but it is associated with teaching effectiveness?
Recent research has begun to answer this
question (Buskist, Silkorski, Buckley, Saville
2002 Epting, Zinn, Buskist, Buskist, 2004).
In this vein we assessed how factors such as
dress, attractiveness, approachability, and
liking influence student learning. The
professors personal qualities such as appearance
(attractiveness, gender, age, formal vs. informal
dress), approachableness (easy to talk to), and
likeability may influence the students overall
evaluation of the course and student outcomes.
The two aspects of a professors personal
qualities that have been shown to influence
student evaluations of a course are the
professors attractiveness and gender (Buck
Tiene 1989 Naumann 1989 Romano Bordieri
1989). Romano and Bordieri found that attractive
professors were judged to be better teachers,
more likely to be approached, more likely to be
recommended to other students, and less likely to
be blamed if a student received a failing course
grade(1989). Female professors were also more
preferred than male professors. Not all studies
agree (Buck Tiene, 1989). Is there a link? Is
attractiveness just a proxy for other factors?
There has also been extensive research on what
is the most successful in the college classroom
experience. The classroom experience consists of
format (i.e. lecture, discussion, in-class group
work, demonstrations, and multimedia),
assignments in the classroom (i.e. tests, pop
quizs, papers, in-class activates, group
projects, individual projects, D2L, and others),
perceived difficulty level, satisfaction with the
course, class size, and the use of power point.
Research has found that the most successful
format for teaching should be a combination of
things (Buskist, Silkorski, Buckley, Saville
2002). We hypothesized that many different
aspects of a college professors personal
qualities combined with the classroom experience
can greatly influence student outcomes. Based on
previous research, we believe that students view
of the professors personal qualities
(appearance, approachableness, and how likable is
the professor) will be positively correlated to
classroom experience and student outcomes. We
also hypothesized that a professors appearance
will influence how the students view that
professors approachableness, how much they like
that professor, and student outcomes.
The participants in this study included 948
students from a mid sized, Midwestern university
(80 female). All university students were
invited to participate in the study through a
campus wide e-mail. The e-mail provided a short
description of the study and why the information
we would receive from it was important. It
included a link to a survey for students who
decided to respond.
Figure 3 Predicting Liking
Figure 1 Correlations Between Learning and Main
Predictors

• Analyses of variance (ANOVA) showed that female
  professors were rated as more attractive and
  likeable (64 of professors rated were male).
• Male professors were rated as more formally
  dressed. ANOVAs also showed female professors
  had higher attractiveness and likeability
  ratings.
• Findings support the strong associations between
  attractiveness and student liking for a course.
  In addition we draw attention to the importance
  of how instructors dress and provide insight into
  the many different factors associated with
  student liking. As can be seen there is a strong
  association between liking and learning that is
  hard to disentangle. One possible way to
  understand this link may be to examine class
  assessment scores (rather than using self-report
  grades as we have).
• Consistent with the social psychological powers
  of attractiveness, our results suggest that even
  in the classroom, attractiveness is a powerful
  factor.

APS2005 For a copy or additional details email
gurungr_at_uwgb.edu